BUILDABANDPROOFOFEFFICACY

DOCUMENT

ByRohanAyyar,DanteBuoncristiani,
KevinMeneses,andCaisWang

StringInstruments-CaisandDante:

Cais:Thewaymoststringinstrumentsworkisbyhavingthestrings
vibratetocreatesound.Theyvibrateasonestandingwave,whichishalf
ofonewavelength.Becauseofthis,thenoteswavelengthistwicethe
wavelengthofthelengthofthestringcreatingthenote.Forexample,a
65.93cmlongstringwillcreatethenotewithawavelengthof65.93cm2=
131.87cm,whichisC4.Additionally,bychangingthetensionofthestring,
differentmusicalnotescanbecreated.Asageneralrule,thethickera
stringis,thesloweritvibrates,resultinginalowerfrequency.Lighter
strings,therefore,vibratefasterandcreatehighernotes.

Myinstrumentinparticular(aboveleft)hasa65.93cmlongstring.The
wavelengthcanbechangedbyusingfretstoshortenthelengthofthe
string.Ialsotunedit(changeditstension)byattachingittoascrewand
tighteningorlooseningitappropriately.Ihadoriginallyaddedtwomore
onlytofindthatthefretsdidntaffectthemthesameasthefirstduetothe
frequenciesincreasingexponentially.

Ialsocreatedatableshowingthelengthsofeachstringandthe
frequenciesandwavelengthsofthenotetheycreate.Dantesstringsare
theoreticallythesame.
 Note Frequency(Hz) Wavelength(cm) Stringlength(cm)

C4 261.63 131.87 65.93

C4/D4 277.18 124.47 62.23

D4 293.66 117.48 58.74

D4/E4 311.13 110.89 55.44

E4 329.63 104.66 52.33

F4 349.23 98.79 49.39

F4/G4 369.99 93.24 46.62

G4 392.00 88.01 44.01

G4/A4 415.30 83.07 41.54

A4 440.00 78.41 39.20

A4/B4 466.16 74.01 37.00

B4 493.88 69.85 34.93

C5 523.25 65.93 32.97

Dante:Myinstrumentworksbytensioningthestringattachedto
screwsoneithersideoftheboard.Thistensionallowsthemtovibrateata
certainfrequencythereforeallowingthesoundwavestobedifferent.I
canchangethetonebytighteningorlooseningthescrews.Intheorymy
instrumentshouldhaveallthenotesbecausethelengthofthestring
shouldcontrolthetone.Howeverinpracticethelengthisnottheonly
factor.Thethicknessisafactoralsothetypeofstring.Alsothescrewsdo
notworkwellsotighteningthestringisnotprecise.Thedifferenttypesof
stringdodifferentthingsforexamplethefishingstringshavealower
notenomatterhowtight.Alsothemedalstringsvibrateatahigherpitch.
Thethickerthemetalthedeeperthesound.

ChimeInstrument-Kevin:

Inachime,thevibrationsofthepipeitselfradiatethesoundafterbeing
struck,sotheaircolumnhasalittletodowiththepitchbeingproduced.
Soundcanbeproducedwhenthetubesortherodscomeincontactwith
thenail,orwitheachother.AllFreenotesinstrumentsareinthecategory
ofpercussioninstrumentsbecausetheycreateasoundwhenhitwitha
mallet.Mostdesignscontainanairthatmakesaloudnoisethesound
whenstruck.Whenyouhittheshortestpipeitmakesahighnote,But
whenyouhitalongestpipeitmakesalownote.Whichmakesachime
instrument.MyinstrumentdidntplayallofthenotessoIhavealistofthe
onesitcanplay.

Note Frequency(Hz) Wavelength(cm)

D7 2349.32 14.69

A6 1760.00 19.60

WindInstrument-Rohan:
Howitworks:
Whenyoublowintoawindinstrument,yourbreathscreatevibrations
insidetheinstrumentwhichcollideswiththemoleculesinthetubesto
createsoundwaves.Thesesoundwaveschangebasedontheshapeofthe
instrument(thenumberofholes).Thisiswhydifferentholesproduce
differentsounds.Inordertoplayacertainnote,thelengthoftheinputto
theholemustbethewavelengthofthenote,becausethatisfourtimes
thefundamentalfrequency(lowestfrequencyoftheflute).This
instrumenthasanothercomponentcalledamplitude.Amplitudeisthe
distancebetweenthenormalpointtotheloudestone.See,whenyoublow
louderinyourinstrument,youstarttomakeairparticlesvibrate.When
airparticlesvibrate,theystarttobumpintoeachotherwhichcreates
sound.Themoreforceyougive,thegreateramplitudeyouget.

NoteAnalysis:
Aswesaidbefore,thelengthfromtheinputtotheholeisthe
wavelengthofthenote.Afterfiguringthisout,IdecidedwhichnotesI
wantedtohaveonthewindinstrument,andweallchosetheC4-C5scale.
Belowisthetablethatcontainsthewavelengthsofthenotes,andthe
lengthsoftheinputtoholetotherightofit.

Note Frequency(Hz) Wavelength(cm) Lengthfrom

Input(cm)

C4 261.63 131.87 32.9675

D4 293.66 117.48 29.37
E4 329.63 104.66 26.165
F4 349.23 98.79 24.6975
G4 392.00 88.01 22.0025
A4 440.00 78.41 19.6025
B4 493.88 69.85 17.4625
C5 523.25 65.93 16.4825
ThisisablueprintImadeoftheflute.Imadeittofigureoutwhereeach
holewouldgobeforemakingit.